NASA’s rover Curiosity find `Australia` on Mars

Washington: In a fascinating finding, NASA’s rover Curiosity`s camera has spotted a rock on Mars that looks like Australia.

As Curiosity`s navigating camera beamed the image back to NASA`s Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Los Angeles, the space agency rapidly uploaded it to Curiosity`s raw image library, available for online visitors to see.

The discovery makes more interesting and coincidental because Curiosity is working in a location of Mars called “Kimberley”, named after the Western Australian region.

The mission is currently studying rocks in the “Kimberley” area that may provide further clues to the red planet’s past habitability and ancient geology.
It said the location has been eyed by mission scientists for over a year suspecting it will be a science treasure trove.

“This is the spot on the map we’ve been headed for, on a little rise that gives us a great view for context imaging of the outcrops at the Kimberley,” said Melissa Rice of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, in a statement.

With its arrival in the Kimberley, NASA`s Mars rover has so far travelled some 3.8 miles since its Martian landing in August of 2012.
With Agency Inputs